LSU may not be so innocent after all.
New video has surfaced of the postgame fight from Saturday night in College Station, Texas, which was originally believed to be set off by Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher’s nephew punching an LSU staff member in the pacemaker.
But the new footage, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, shows Cole Fisher just pushing LSU’s Steve Kragthorpe before getting punched himself by Tigers safety John Battle while tussling with Kevin Faulk, LSU’s director of player development.
According to the Chronicle, Kragthorpe later retracted his statement to police that he had been hit.
Jimbo Fisher tried to move past the melee with a statement issued Monday night.
“We have continued to look into an unfortunate postgame incident following a hard-fought, emotional game against LSU at Kyle Field on Saturday,” the statement said. “As a part of that review, I, along with Texas A&M administration, LSU and the SEC office, have been examining video of the incident as well as statements from relevant parties. I want to assure everyone that the matter has been addressed internally with my staff members, and we will continue to demand that our program conduct itself in a manner that meets the values and expectations of this great university. We look forward to continuing our season at a bowl destination.”
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron also addressed the snafu, which followed Texas A&M’s 74-72 win in seven overtimes, Tuesday morning.
“We’re not getting into details,” Orgeron said on 104.5 ESPN, per Nola.com. “Coach Kragthorpe is a very good man. He has Parkinson’s disease. He’s very dedicated to our university. He has great character.
“What happened to him should not have happened. There were some very unprofessional acts done on that football field, and I hope the SEC does the right thing about it. I hope they will.”